Hmm well the problem remains Doc that the original install was Windows 8 and to downgrade to Windows 7 Pro that original install has to be a Windows 8 Pro version which should reside on that original drive but as I have found out to my disappointment and cost is only an ordinary for want of a better term - 8.1.
Now the new set up regarding Windows installs is that the OS from 8 onwards - as there surely will be and maybe soon - is set into the BIOS and the only requirement for the builder or manufacturer in this instance is to put a sticker on the outside of the machine denoting the version of 8 it has inside that can be seen in that link that Noel sent me and the label has to be a dark blue and have Pro inscribed on it - mine has a sticker but it is a sort of magenta colour and does not have Pro inscribed on it.
Now I removed that drive as it was slow spinner and replaced it with a smaller SSD and then sent it back to have the Windows 7 Pro option put on it not having any idea of those rules as I am guessing unless one is a student of Microsoft regulations or lawyer re software laws and know them inside out would do and I ma guessing again that I am not the only buyer who has been had over a barrel like I have .
But you have got me thinking that as the 7 has not been installed on the original drive maybe the install is half legal on this SSD drive but only for the fact that it has no COA sticker because the seller I think had no idea about the rules regarding downgrades from 8 to 7 as I pointed out.
Now I could shell out $179 for a new OEM and put it on the machine and then I would have a sticker - if any subsequent discussions with Microsoft do not go in my favour if I give them the honest facts as to what I bought and how I was sort of half duped and they maybe let me keep the current install.
I shall have to do that so to all intents and purposes my version of Windows 7 is going to cost me the price of a full retail version because I have already paid the seller $135 for the option he put on the SSD plus the $179 the extra OEM is going to cost me - all up $214. But at least I get to keep my sanity as it seems no one can help me but myself.
Anyway from past dealings with them - when you can find someone who knows what they are talking about - they are usually quite obliging and helpful. But I have to wait until tomorrow to get onto them as it is 2.20am here and at work on night duty and so have a little time to get on the machine.
Then I just have to deal with the BIOS issue with the Asus set up they are just as bad at setting up how on can use the machines by making them so that you can only use 8 and if one wants 7 then the BIOS has to be updated and it is something that sends shivers down my back perhaps being a little overly cautious I suppose but experience from the past 40 years of using computers has made me especially wary of mucking about in the BIOS or with it except that I find the EUFI on my Ivy Bridge is quite easy to use as opposed to the old legacy stuff we have used over the years. Even so updating the BIOS is still a place I do not like going to.
